Tuesday, June 05, 2007

I am back...

... but ill. Turns out that sore throat wasn't just caused by the dry plane air, it was actually a cold. I am spending most of my time in bed. Boo.

Here's an interesting discovery: the staff at Boston airport are a lot nicer than the ones at Los Angeles. The LAX guys are hysterically paranoid combined with authoritarian and act like they'll pistol-whip you for pausing to sneeze ten feet away from the 'No Waiting' sign - I'm really not exaggerating very much - but the Boston guys were friendly, polite and actually cracked a few jokes. It was a big relief.

If you're ever in Boston, go to the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum. It's lovely. It's the house of an art collector that got bequeathed to the public, with the most beautiful courtyard I've ever seen - the closest analogy, if you're English, is that it's kind of like the John Soane's Museum, but with a woman't touch...

Lemsip is a powder you make into a hot drink, that contains painkillers, decongestants and vitamin C. Basically cold medicine. Doesn't cure you, but makes you feel slightly less ill until it wears off, and then you drink some more.

Apparently the poet Andrew Motion (who used to teach me some years ago) uses it as a drug: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/arts/2329473.stm. Have to say he didn't act much like an addict, but if he says so, then it must be so. It's not making me feel very poetic. I mostly just want to curl up and read stuff that other people have done the work of writing.

Yes, I remember now that America doesn't have it - one time I was on holiday in San Francisco and my boyfriend was ill; I had to keep collaring people in the drugstore and saying, 'I'm English, what do you people take when you're sick?' I can't remember what they gave me, but they were quite helpful. If you ever come over here and get sick, Lemsip's the stuff.

Ah! We do have the something similar to Lemsip. Tylenol makes one, and I believe there is one called "theraflu." (Or perhaps that is the one that Tylenol makes.) It makes a sort of hot lemon drink, and it has all those lovely medicines in it. So, if you are ever sick in the States and want Lemsip, ask for Theraflu.

I'm a Theraflu devotee -- I kind of have to be -- but Lemsip tastes better. :-) It's ground up finer. I could be romanticizing.

Never got the hype behind paracetamol, which is essentially Tylenol. I was so disillusioned when I found that out. I thought it was some kind of magic miracle drug from the way it was recommended to me for colds, allergies, a meningitis scare... ALLERGIES... it's just a painkiller! Okay, I guess it does lower fevers...

(Welcome back from Boston! Feel better soon.)

(--previously "Camille." Blogger confuses me, but it seems to be using my screen name now... which is good, I guess. Flighty thing.)

Thanks for the link, Chris! Most interesting. I remember a couple of months ago an Italian interviewer asked me to share my knowledge about how the full moon affects people, and I had to fudge a bit as I really didn't know... Now if somebody else asks me, I can be all informed.

Ah, you see, in the UK we haven't heard of Tylenol. Or at least, it's one of those things that get mention in American fiction, and you have to wonder what it is and whether it's an essential ingredient in Twinkies or root beer or other such mysterious concoctions.

(Actually I tried a Twinkie once; it was the most revolting thing I ever tasted. And I once accidentally tasted cat food. Clearly someone had covered margarine in bathroom sponge, soaked it in sugar syrup and then irradiated it. That was the day I discovered the limits to my sweet tooth.)

Hee! Was never allowed Twinkies as a kid, which is, I think, when you're supposed to be indoctrinated with them. (I also think their forbidden nature was a major part of their appeal.) I don't hate them, though. But I'm perfectly happy to never eat one ever again. I can't believe I ever thought that that cream filling was good. Be happy you never tried a Ho Ho.

Paracetemol is the generic name for the drug, and here it's "acetaminophen." Tylenol is the most popular brand name. Doesn't give kids Reye Syndrome, so that's a plus. I still treat it like a placebo, though. (Am still completely offended by the allergy recommendation -- London in July nearly KILLED me. But it had chocolate bars in the Underground, so I forgave it wholeheartedly.)